TNT Tropang Giga is on the brink of retaining the Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup as it battles San Miguel Beer—a five-straight winner of the most prestigious trophy in the league—in Game 6 of their best-of-seven Finals series on Friday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
But TNT Head Coach Chot Reyes admitted it won’t be an easy night for them.
“I have always said that the hardest game to win is the fourth game [win No. 4],” Reyes said. “We have no illusions about it. We know it’s going to be a huge, difficult war so we have to be prepared.”
Game 6 starts at 5:45 p.m. and a victory by TNT will give the Manuel V. Pangilinan franchise its ninth PBA crown.
“All we can do is prepare ourselves, control the things we can control and just be ready for the game,” Reyes added.
Reyes said the Beermen would definitely bounce back from back-to-back defeats—100-87 in Game 4 and 102-93 in Game 5.
Kelly Williams was at his powerhouse vintage self and produced 14 points and seven rebounds in Game 4 and 21 points and nine rebounds in Game 6. He will draw support from sophomore big time scorer Mikey Williams, who is averaging 16.6 points in the series.
Jayson Castro, one of TNT’s veterans, is again expected to play through pain after spraining his ankle in the third quarter of Game 5.
San Miguel Beer would be defiant though.
“We just really need to beat them in Game 6. The series is not done yet,” Best Player of the Conference and six-time Most Valuable Player June Mar Fajardo said.
The behemoth Beerman has been averaging 20.8 points and 17.2 rebounds in the championship series.